Baseband Power Estimation and Feedback Mechanism

ABSTRACT

This disclosure relates to techniques for estimating baseband power consumption and using the baseband power consumption estimation to select baseband operation features. According to some embodiments, one or more baseband power consumption modifiers occurring during an estimation window may be identified. Baseband power consumption of the wireless device during the estimation window may be estimated based on the identified baseband power consumption modifiers occurring during the estimation window. Baseband data throughput of the wireless device during the estimation window may also be estimated. One or more baseband operation characteristics may be selected based at least in part on the estimated baseband power consumption during the estimation window, possibly in conjunction with the estimated baseband data throughput during the estimation window, current wireless medium conditions, and/or other considerations.

PRIORITY CLAIM

This application is a continuation of Ser. No. 15/169,280 titled “Baseband Power Estimation and Feedback Mechanism” and filed May 31,2016, whose inventors are Sunny Arora, Rati Agrawal, Sami M. Almalfouh,Xiantao Sun, Johnson O. Sebeni, Wael S. Barakat, Navid Damji, SrinivasPasupuleti, Raghuveer Mallikarjunan, and which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety as though fully and completely set forthherein.

The claims in the instant application are different than those of theparent application or other related applications. The Applicanttherefore rescinds any disclaimer of claim scope made in the parentapplication or any predecessor application in relation to the instantapplication. The Examiner is therefore advised that any such previousdisclaimer and the cited references that it was made to avoid, may needto be revisited. Further, any disclaimer made in the instant applicationshould not be read into or against the parent application or otherrelated applications.

FIELD

The present application relates to wireless devices, and moreparticularly to systems, methods, and apparatuses for estimatingbaseband power usage and using that information for baseband operationdecision making.

DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART

Wireless communication systems are rapidly growing in usage.Additionally, there exist numerous different wireless communicationtechnologies and standards. Some examples of wireless communicationstandards include GSM, UMTS (associated with, for example, WCDMA orTD-SCDMA air interfaces), LTE, LTE Advanced (LTE-A), HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), IEEE 802.11 (WLAN orWi-Fi), IEEE 802.16 (WiMAX), Bluetooth, and others.

Many wireless communication technologies, such as cellular communicationtechnologies, are substantially designed to provide mobile communicationcapabilities to wireless devices, such as cellular phones. Accordingly,wireless devices are generally powered by a portable power supply, e.g.,a battery. As batteries hold a finite charge, the balance betweentechniques that reduce power consumption to improve battery life, andtechniques that provide higher throughput, commonly results inless-than-ideal design trade-offs for wireless devices. Thus,improvements in the field would be desirable.

SUMMARY

Embodiments are presented herein of, inter alia, systems, methods, andapparatuses for estimating baseband power usage in a wireless device andfor utilizing the estimated baseband power usage information duringbaseband operations.

According to the techniques descried herein, a wireless device may beprovided with the capability to estimate its baseband power usage inreal time, through knowledge of the system and characterization (e.g.,via a series of characterization tests) of the effects on baseband powerconsumption of the various baseband features and characteristics (e.g.,configuration settings) of the system.

According to some embodiments, an additive model may be used, such thatthe baseband power consumption is estimated by computing a linearcombination of whichever power modifying characteristics features areidentified as being active during an estimation window.

The estimated baseband power consumption computed in such a way may beused within and/or outside of the baseband portion of the wirelessdevice. For example, the estimated baseband power consumption (and/orone or more metrics derived therefrom) may be used as a feedback inputfor baseband operations, such that certain baseband operationcharacteristics (e.g., features turned on or off, timing of certainoperations) may be selected or modified based at least in part on theestimated baseband power consumption. Alternatively or in addition, theestimated baseband power consumption (and/or one or more metrics derivedtherefrom) may be provided to higher layers (e.g., to one or moreapplications or other modules operating on an applicationprocessor/domain of the wireless device), and may be used as part oftheir operations (e.g., for determining network data exchange timing,for providing a power consumption meter or battery level user interface,etc.)

Note that the techniques described herein may be implemented in and/orused with a number of different types of devices, including but notlimited to, base stations, access points, cellular phones, portablemedia players, tablet computers, wearable devices, and various othercomputing devices.

This summary is intended to provide a brief overview of some of thesubject matter described in this document. Accordingly, it will beappreciated that the above-described features are merely examples andshould not be construed to narrow the scope or spirit of the subjectmatter described herein in any way. Other features, aspects, andadvantages of the subject matter described herein will become apparentfrom the following Detailed Description, Figures, and Claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

A better understanding of the present subject matter can be obtainedwhen the following detailed description of the embodiments is consideredin conjunction with the following drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 2 illustrates a base station (BS) in communication with a userequipment (UE) device, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE device, accordingto some embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a BS, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart diagram illustrating an exemplary method for awireless device to estimate baseband power consumption and to use thebaseband power consumption estimation during baseband operations,according to some embodiments;

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating aspects of an example framework forestimating baseband power consumption, according to some embodiments;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary block diagram illustrating a possible logicalmodel for estimating baseband power consumption, according to someembodiments;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart diagram illustrating possible aspects of theexemplary method of FIG. 5, according to some embodiments; and

FIGS. 9-10 illustrate example aspects of possible techniques forperforming on-device learning based on estimating baseband powerconsumption, according to some embodiments.

While the features described herein may be susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments thereof areshown by way of example in the drawings and are herein described indetail. It should be understood, however, that the drawings and detaileddescription thereto are not intended to be limiting to the particularform disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover allmodifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spiritand scope of the subject matter as defined by the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Terms

The following is a glossary of terms used in this disclosure:

Memory Medium—Any of various types of non-transitory memory devices orstorage devices. The term “memory medium” is intended to include aninstallation medium, e.g., a CD-ROM, floppy disks, or tape device; acomputer system memory or random access memory such as DRAM, DDR RAM,SRAM, EDO RAM, Rambus RAM, etc.; a non-volatile memory such as a Flash,magnetic media, e.g., a hard drive, or optical storage; registers, orother similar types of memory elements, etc. The memory medium mayinclude other types of non-transitory memory as well or combinationsthereof. In addition, the memory medium may be located in a firstcomputer system in which the programs are executed, or may be located ina second different computer system which connects to the first computersystem over a network, such as the Internet. In the latter instance, thesecond computer system may provide program instructions to the firstcomputer for execution. The term “memory medium” may include two or morememory mediums which may reside in different locations, e.g., indifferent computer systems that are connected over a network. The memorymedium may store program instructions (e.g., embodied as computerprograms) that may be executed by one or more processors.

Carrier Medium—a memory medium as described above, as well as a physicaltransmission medium, such as a bus, network, and/or other physicaltransmission medium that conveys signals such as electrical,electromagnetic, or digital signals.

Programmable Hardware Element—includes various hardware devicescomprising multiple programmable function blocks connected via aprogrammable interconnect. Examples include FPGAs (Field ProgrammableGate Arrays), PLDs (Programmable Logic Devices), FPOAs (FieldProgrammable Object Arrays), and CPLDs (Complex PLDs). The programmablefunction blocks may range from fine grained (combinatorial logic or lookup tables) to coarse grained (arithmetic logic units or processorcores). A programmable hardware element may also be referred to as“reconfigurable logic”.

Computer System—any of various types of computing or processing systems,including a personal computer system (PC), mainframe computer system,workstation, network appliance, Internet appliance, personal digitalassistant (PDA), television system, grid computing system, or otherdevice or combinations of devices. In general, the term “computersystem” can be broadly defined to encompass any device (or combinationof devices) having at least one processor that executes instructionsfrom a memory medium.

User Equipment (UE) (or “UE Device”)—any of various types of computersystems devices which are mobile or portable and which performs wirelesscommunications. Examples of UE devices include mobile telephones orsmart phones (e.g., iPhone™, Android™-based phones), portable gamingdevices (e.g., Nintendo DS™, Play Station Portable™, Gameboy Advance™,iPhone™), laptops, wearable devices (e.g., smart watch, smart glasses),PDAs, portable Internet devices, music players, data storage devices, orother handheld devices, etc. In general, the term “UE” or “UE device”can be broadly defined to encompass any electronic, computing, and/ortelecommunications device (or combination of devices) which is easilytransported by a user and capable of wireless communication.

Wireless Device—any of various types of computer system devices whichperforms wireless communications. A wireless device can be portable (ormobile) or may be stationary or fixed at a certain location. A UE is anexample of a wireless device.

Base Station—The term “Base Station” has the full breadth of itsordinary meaning, and at least includes a wireless communication stationinstalled at a fixed location and used to communicate as part of awireless telephone system or radio system.

Link Budget Limited—includes the full breadth of its ordinary meaning,and at least includes a characteristic of a wireless device (a UE) whichexhibits limited communication capabilities, or limited power, relativeto a device that is not link budget limited, or relative to devices forwhich a radio access technology (RAT) standard has been developed. A UEthat is link budget limited may experience relatively limited receptionand/or transmission capabilities, which may be due to one or morefactors such as device design, device size, battery size, antenna sizeor design, transmit power, receive power, current transmission mediumconditions, and/or other factors. Such devices may be referred to hereinas “link budget limited” (or “link budget constrained”) devices. Adevice may be inherently link budget limited due to its size, batterypower, and/or transmit/receive power. For example, a smart watch that iscommunicating over LTE or LTE-A with a base station may be inherentlylink budget limited due to its reduced transmit/receive power and/orreduced antenna. Wearable devices, such as smart watches, are generallylink budget limited devices. Alternatively, a device may not beinherently link budget limited, e.g., may have sufficient size, batterypower, and/or transmit/receive power for normal communications over LTEor LTE-A, but may be temporarily link budget limited due to currentcommunication conditions, e.g., a smart phone being at the edge of acell, etc. It is noted that the term “link budget limited” includes orencompasses power limitations, and thus a power limited device may beconsidered a link budget limited device.

Processing Element (or Processor)—refers to various elements orcombinations of elements. Processing elements include, for example,circuits such as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit),portions or circuits of individual processor cores, entire processorcores, individual processors, programmable hardware devices such as afield programmable gate array (FPGA), and/or larger portions of systemsthat include multiple processors.

Channel—a medium used to convey information from a sender (transmitter)to a receiver. It should be noted that since characteristics of the term“channel” may differ according to different wireless protocols, the term“channel” as used herein may be considered as being used in a mannerthat is consistent with the standard of the type of device withreference to which the term is used. In some standards, channel widthsmay be variable (e.g., depending on device capability, band conditions,etc.). For example, LTE may support scalable channel bandwidths from 1.4MHz to 20 MHz. In contrast, WLAN channels may be 22 MHz wide whileBluetooth channels may be 1 Mhz wide. Other protocols and standards mayinclude different definitions of channels. Furthermore, some standardsmay define and use multiple types of channels, e.g., different channelsfor uplink or downlink and/or different channels for different uses suchas data, control information, etc.

Band—The term “band” has the full breadth of its ordinary meaning, andat least includes a section of spectrum (e.g., radio frequency spectrum)in which channels are used or set aside for the same purpose.

Automatically—refers to an action or operation performed by a computersystem (e.g., software executed by the computer system) or device (e.g.,circuitry, programmable hardware elements, ASICs, etc.), without userinput directly specifying or performing the action or operation. Thusthe term “automatically” is in contrast to an operation being manuallyperformed or specified by the user, where the user provides input todirectly perform the operation. An automatic procedure may be initiatedby input provided by the user, but the subsequent actions that areperformed “automatically” are not specified by the user, i.e., are notperformed “manually”, where the user specifies each action to perform.For example, a user filling out an electronic form by selecting eachfield and providing input specifying information (e.g., by typinginformation, selecting check boxes, radio selections, etc.) is fillingout the form manually, even though the computer system must update theform in response to the user actions. The form may be automaticallyfilled out by the computer system where the computer system (e.g.,software executing on the computer system) analyzes the fields of theform and fills in the form without any user input specifying the answersto the fields. As indicated above, the user may invoke the automaticfilling of the form, but is not involved in the actual filling of theform (e.g., the user is not manually specifying answers to fields butrather they are being automatically completed). The presentspecification provides various examples of operations beingautomatically performed in response to actions the user has taken.

FIGS. 1 and 2—Communication System

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary (and simplified) wireless communicationsystem, according to some embodiments. It is noted that the system ofFIG. 1 is merely one example of a possible system, and embodiments maybe implemented in any of various systems, as desired.

As shown, the exemplary wireless communication system includes a basestation 102A which communicates over a transmission medium with one ormore user devices 106A, 106B, etc., through 106N. Each of the userdevices may be referred to herein as a “user equipment” (UE). Thus, theuser devices 106 are referred to as UEs or UE devices.

The base station 102A may be a base transceiver station (BTS) or cellsite, and may include hardware that enables wireless communication withthe UEs 106A through 106N. The base station 102A may also be equipped tocommunicate with a network 100 (e.g., a core network of a cellularservice provider, a telecommunication network such as a public switchedtelephone network (PSTN), and/or the Internet, among variouspossibilities). Thus, the base station 102A may facilitate communicationamong the user devices and/or between the user devices and the network100.

The communication area (or coverage area) of the base station may bereferred to as a “cell.” The base station 102A and the UEs 106 may beconfigured to communicate over the transmission medium using any ofvarious radio access technologies (RATs), also referred to as wirelesscommunication technologies, or telecommunication standards, such as GSM,UMTS (WCDMA, TD-SCDMA), LTE, LTE-Advanced (LTE-A), HSPA 3GPP2 CDMA2000(e.g., 1×RTT, NEV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), Wi-Fi, WiMAX etc.

Base station 102A and other similar base stations (such as base stations102B . . . 102N) operating according to the same or a different cellularcommunication standard may thus be provided as a network of cells, whichmay provide continuous or nearly continuous overlapping service to UEs106A-N and similar devices over a geographic area via one or morecellular communication standards.

Thus, while base station 102A may act as a “serving cell” for UEs 106A-Nas illustrated in FIG. 1, each UE 106 may also be capable of receivingsignals from (and possibly within communication range of) one or moreother cells (which might be provided by base stations 102B-N and/or anyother base stations), which may be referred to as “neighboring cells”.Such cells may also be capable of facilitating communication betweenuser devices and/or between user devices and the network 100, accordingto the same wireless communication technology as base station 102Aand/or any of various other possible wireless communicationtechnologies. Such cells may include “macro” cells, “micro” cells,“pico” cells, and/or cells which provide any of various othergranularities of service area size. For example, base stations 102A-Billustrated in FIG. 1 might be macro cells, while base station 102Nmight be a micro cell. Other configurations are also possible.

Note that a UE 106 may be capable of communicating using multiplewireless communication standards. For example, a UE 106 may beconfigured to communicate using a wireless networking (e.g., Wi-Fi)and/or peer-to-peer wireless communication protocol (e.g., BT, Wi-Fipeer-to-peer, etc.) in addition to at least one cellular communicationprotocol (e.g., GSM, UMTS (WCDMA, TD-SCDMA), LTE, LTE-A, HSPA, 3GPP2CDMA2000 (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO, HRPD, eHRPD), etc.). The UE 106 may alsoor alternatively be configured to communicate using one or more globalnavigational satellite systems (GNSS, e.g., GPS or GLONASS), one or moremobile television broadcasting standards (e.g., ATSC-M/H or DVB-H),and/or any other wireless communication protocol, if desired. Othercombinations of wireless communication standards (including more thantwo wireless communication standards) are also possible.

FIG. 2 illustrates user equipment 106 (e.g., one of the devices 106Athrough 106N) in communication with a base station 102 (e.g., one of thebase stations 102A through 102N), according to some embodiments. The UE106 may be a device with cellular communication capability such as amobile phone, a hand-held device, a wearable device, a computer or atablet, or virtually any type of wireless device.

The UE 106 may include a processor that is configured to execute programinstructions stored in memory. The UE 106 may perform any of the methodembodiments described herein by executing such stored instructions.Alternatively, or in addition, the UE 106 may include a programmablehardware element such as an FPGA (field-programmable gate array) that isconfigured to perform any of the method embodiments described herein, orany portion of any of the method embodiments described herein.

The UE 106 may include one or more antennas for communicating using oneor more wireless communication protocols or technologies. In oneembodiment, the UE 106 might be configured to communicate using eitherof CDMA2000 (1×RTT/1×EV-DO/HRPD/eHRPD) or LTE using a single sharedradio and/or GSM or LTE using the single shared radio. The shared radiomay couple to a single antenna, or may couple to multiple antennas(e.g., for MIMO) for performing wireless communications. In general, aradio may include any combination of a baseband processor, analog RFsignal processing circuitry (e.g., including filters, mixers,oscillators, amplifiers, etc.), or digital processing circuitry (e.g.,for digital modulation as well as other digital processing). Similarly,the radio may implement one or more receive and transmit chains usingthe aforementioned hardware. For example, the UE 106 may share one ormore parts of a receive and/or transmit chain between multiple wirelesscommunication technologies, such as those discussed above.

In some embodiments, the UE 106 may include separate (and possiblymultiple) transmit and/or receive chains (e.g., including separate RFand/or digital radio components) for each wireless communicationprotocol with which it is configured to communicate. As a furtherpossibility, the UE 106 may include one or more radios which are sharedbetween multiple wireless communication protocols, and one or moreradios which are used exclusively by a single wireless communicationprotocol. For example, the UE 106 might include a shared radio forcommunicating using either of LTE or 1×RTT (or UMTS or GSM), andseparate radios for communicating using each of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.Other configurations are also possible.

FIG. 3—Exemplary Block Diagram of a UE Device

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a UE 106, according tosome embodiments. As shown, the UE 106 may include a system on chip(SOC) 300, which may include portions for various purposes. For example,as shown, the SOC 300 may include processor(s) 302 which may executeprogram instructions for the UE 106 and display circuitry 304 which mayperform graphics processing and provide display signals to the display360. The processor(s) 302 may also be coupled to memory management unit(MMU) 340, which may be configured to receive addresses from theprocessor(s) 302 and translate those addresses to locations in memory(e.g., memory 306, read only memory (ROM) 350, NAND flash memory 310)and/or to other circuits or devices, such as the display circuitry 304,wireless communication circuitry 330, connector I/F 320, and/or display360. The MMU 340 may be configured to perform memory protection and pagetable translation or set up. In some embodiments, the MMU 340 may beincluded as a portion of the processor(s) 302.

As shown, the SOC 300 may be coupled to various other circuits of the UE106. For example, the UE 106 may include various types of memory (e.g.,including NAND flash 310), a connector interface 320 (e.g., for couplingto a computer system, dock, charging station, etc.), the display 360,and wireless communication circuitry (e.g., baseband processor,radio(s), etc.) 330 (e.g., for LTE, Wi-Fi, GPS, etc.).

The UE device 106 may include at least one antenna, (and possiblymultiple antennas, e.g., for MIMO and/or for implementing differentwireless communication technologies, among various possibilities)performing wireless communication with base stations and/or otherdevices. For example, the UE device 106 may use antenna(s) 335 toperform the wireless communication. As noted above, the UE 106 may beconfigured to communicate wirelessly using multiple wirelesscommunication technologies in some embodiments.

As described further subsequently herein, the UE 106 may includehardware and software components for implementing features forestimating baseband power consumption and using the baseband powerconsumption estimation during baseband operations, such as thosedescribed herein with reference to, inter alia, FIG. 5. A basebandprocessor comprised in wireless communication circuitry 330 of the UEdevice 106 may be configured to implement part or all of the methodsdescribed herein, e.g., by executing program instructions stored on amemory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readable memory medium).In other embodiments, the baseband processor comprised in wirelesscommunication circuitry 330 may be configured as a programmable hardwareelement, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), or as an ASIC(Application Specific Integrated Circuit). Alternatively (or inaddition) the baseband processor comprised in wireless communicationcircuitry 330 of the UE device 106, in conjunction with one or more ofthe other components 300, 302, 304, 306, 310, 320, 335, 340, 350, 360may be configured to implement part or all of the features describedherein, such as the features described herein with reference to, interalia, FIG. 5.

FIG. 4—Exemplary Block Diagram of a Base Station

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary block diagram of a base station 102,according to some embodiments. It is noted that the base station of FIG.4 is merely one example of a possible base station. As shown, the basestation 102 may include processor(s) 404 which may execute programinstructions for the base station 102. The processor(s) 404 may also becoupled to memory management unit (MMU) 440, which may be configured toreceive addresses from the processor(s) 404 and translate thoseaddresses to locations in memory (e.g., memory 460 and read only memory(ROM) 450) or to other circuits or devices.

The base station 102 may include at least one network port 470. Thenetwork port 470 may be configured to couple to a telephone network andprovide a plurality of devices, such as UE devices 106, access to thetelephone network as described above in FIGS. 1 and 2.

The network port 470 (or an additional network port) may also oralternatively be configured to couple to a cellular network, e.g., acore network of a cellular service provider. The core network mayprovide mobility related services and/or other services to a pluralityof devices, such as UE devices 106. In some cases, the network port 470may couple to a telephone network via the core network, and/or the corenetwork may provide a telephone network (e.g., among other UE devicesserviced by the cellular service provider).

The base station 102 may include at least one antenna 434, and possiblymultiple antennas. The antenna(s) 434 may be configured to operate as awireless transceiver and may be further configured to communicate withUE devices 106 via radio 430. The antenna 434 communicates with theradio 430 via communication chain 432. Communication chain 432 may be areceive chain, a transmit chain or both. The radio 430 may be configuredto communicate via various wireless telecommunication standards,including, but not limited to, LTE, LTE-A, UMTS, CDMA2000, Wi-Fi, etc.

The BS 102 may be configured to communicate wirelessly using multiplewireless communication standards. In some instances, the base station102 may include multiple radios, which may enable the base station 102to communicate according to multiple wireless communicationtechnologies. For example, as one possibility, the base station 102 mayinclude an LTE radio for performing communication according to LTE aswell as a Wi-Fi radio for performing communication according to Wi-Fi.In such a case, the base station 102 may be capable of operating as bothan LTE base station and a Wi-Fi access point. As another possibility,the base station 102 may include a multi-mode radio which is capable ofperforming communications according to any of multiple wirelesscommunication technologies (e.g., LTE and Wi-Fi).

The BS 102 may include hardware and software components for implementingor supporting implementation of features described herein. The processor404 of the base station 102 may be configured to implement part or allof the methods described herein, e.g., by executing program instructionsstored on a memory medium (e.g., a non-transitory computer-readablememory medium). Alternatively, the processor 404 may be configured as aprogrammable hardware element, such as an FPGA (Field Programmable GateArray), or as an ASIC (Application Specific Integrated Circuit), or acombination thereof. Alternatively (or in addition) the processor 404 ofthe BS 102, in conjunction with one or more of the other components 430,432, 434, 440, 450, 460, 470 may be configured to implement part or allof the features described herein.

FIG. 5—Flowchart Diagram

Determining how to balance the relative emphasis between throughput andpower consumption for a wireless device, in order to provide good userexperience, can be a difficult problem. In many instances it may bepossible to select whether to use techniques that may provide improvedthroughput at higher power consumption cost, or to use techniques thathave a lower power consumption cost, but may provide lesser throughput.

Accordingly, it may be possible to improve performance efficiency insuch instances if accurate information is available for determiningwhich of multiple possible techniques or features to use at which timesto provide more power usage efficient baseband operation. For example,if a wireless device is not able to intelligently determine how muchbenefit a power consuming but potentially performance enhancing featurewill provide, the potentially performance enhancing feature may beselected on some occasions when its benefits would be minimal, such thatthe additional power consumption caused by the feature may be of littleor no benefit. On such occasions the wireless device might thuspotentially unknowingly operate with lower power usage efficiency withrespect to data throughput than if the feature were not enabled.

One type of information that may be useful in making such decisions mayinclude a real-time estimation of baseband power consumption, e.g.,based on the features and characteristics of baseband operation that arecurrently active. Accordingly, it would be useful to provide techniquesfor estimating baseband power consumption, and for using thatinformation to improve baseband operations. FIG. 5 is a flowchartdiagram illustrating such a scheme. The scheme shown in FIG. 5 may beused in conjunction with any of the computer systems or devices shown inthe above Figures, among other devices. According to some embodiments,the method may be implemented by a wireless device (e.g., a UE 106 suchas illustrated in and described with respect to FIGS. 1-3). In variousembodiments, some of the elements of the scheme shown may be performedconcurrently, in a different order than shown, substituted for by otherelements, or may be omitted. Additional elements may also be performedas desired. As shown, the scheme may operate as follows.

In 502, one or more baseband power consumption modifiers (e.g.,characteristics or features of baseband operation) active during anestimation window may be identified. The active baseband powerconsumption system modifiers may be identified from a multitude ofpossible power usage modifiers, that may be known based on knowledge ofthe system design of the wireless device. For example, the possible setof baseband power consumption system modifiers may include and/or bebased on various hardware modules, software modules, clockingmechanisms, voltage schemes, power optimization features, etc.

Each possible baseband power usage modifier may be characterized by itstypical effect on baseband power consumption while active. For example,a series of characterization tests may be performed to determine thetypical individual power consumption contribution of each of thepossible baseband power usage modifiers, and the wireless device maystore information indicative of the power consumption contribution perunit time (e.g., as determined by the characterization tests) for eachsuch possible baseband power usage modifier. Other ways ofcharacterizing the typical effect of each possible baseband powerconsumption modifier on baseband power consumption while active are alsopossible.

According to some instances, the wireless device may also determine whatportion of the estimation window each modifier is/was active, if notactive for the entire estimation window. Or more generally, the wirelessdevice may determine an amount of time during the estimation window forwhich each identified baseband power usage modifier was active. This maybe useful to more accurately estimate the baseband power consumptionduring the estimation window, e.g., as further described below herein.

As noted above, the possible set of baseband power consumption modifiersmay include any of a great variety of features and/or modules that maybe used at various times during baseband operation. As a non-limitingset of example possible baseband power consumption modifiers, any or allof the following possible baseband power consumption modifiers may becharacterized and may be identified when active during an estimationwindow, as desired.

As one possible modifier, a radio access technology (RAT) that iscurrently active (e.g., whether the wireless device is using LTE, WCDMA,GSM, CDMA2000, TDSCDMA, etc.) may be considered as a baseband powerconsumption modifier. As another possibility, a state (e.g., packetswitched (PS) connected mode, a circuit switched (CS) connected mode, amulti-radio access bearer (mRAB) connected mode, an idle mode, a VoLTEcall, etc.) and/or procedure (e.g., a random access channel (RACH), aforward access channel (FACH), a high-speed FACH (HS-FACH), etc.)undertaken by the wireless device with respect to a RAT that iscurrently active may be considered as a baseband power consumptionmodifier.

Still further possible modifiers could include features/characteristicsused while in a particular state and/or performing a particularprocedure according to a RAT, such as the bandwidth used, transportblock size allocated, the downlink and uplink allocations, the transmitpower (e.g., power amplifier level) used, whether carrieraggregation/dual carrier is enabled or disabled, whether an advancedreceiver functionality (e.g., providing interference mitigationfunctionality) is enabled or disabled, a diversity path used, whethercontinuous packet connectivity (CPC) is active, a discontinuousreception (DRX) configuration, etc.

Additionally, possible baseband power consumption modifiers notspecifically related to any particular RAT may be considered, ifdesired. For example, system selection related baseband powerconsumption modifiers, such as if the wireless device is currentlyout-of-service (OOS) (and potentially further whether a searcher moduleis active or inactive), engaging in power-up procedures, or performing abackground public land mobile network (BPLMN) scan, among variouspossibilities, could be among the possible baseband power consumptionmodifiers characterized.

In 504, baseband power consumption of the wireless device during theestimation window may be estimated. As one possibility, this may includecalculating a linear combination of the effects on baseband powerconsumption of the identified baseband power consumption modifiers. Forexample, a baseband power consumption value may be calculated for eachrespective baseband power consumption modifier identified as activeduring the estimation window, e.g., by muliplying the power usage perunit time of the respective baseband power consumption modifier by theamount of time during the estimation window that the respective basebandpower consumption modifier was active. The baseband power consumptionvalues for all of the baseband power consumption modifiers identified asactive during the estimation window may then be summed to calculate atotal estimated baseband power consumption during the estimation window.Alternatively, any of various other functions for applying the modifiereffects (e.g., depending on the manner in which the effects of the setof possible baseband power consumption modifiers on baseband powerconsumption are characterized) to generate the baseband powerconsumption estimate, as desired.

In 506, baseband data throughput of the wireless device during theestimation window may be estimated or calculated. The baseband datathroughput may be estimated separately as downlink throughput (e.g., anamount of data wirelessly received by the wireless device) and uplinkthroughput (e.g., an amount of data wirelessly transmitted by thewireless device), and/or may be estimated as a combined uplink anddownlink (i.e., total) throughput (e.g., the amount of data bothwirelessly transmitted and wirelessly received by the wireless device).

According to some embodiments, the baseband data throughput and thebaseband power consumption for the estimation window may be used tocalculate one or more estimated energy used per data communicated (e.g.,in units of mA/bit, μA/bit, mA/byte, or any other desired unit) valuesfor the estimation window. For example, the estimated baseband powerconsumption may be divided by the total baseband data throughput for theestimation window to determine an overall estimated energy used per datacommunicated value for the estimation window. If desired, separateenergy used per uplink data communicated and/or energy used per downlinkdata communicated values may also be estimated.

Note that the estimation window size used for the baseband powerconsumption estimation, the baseband data throughput estimation(s),and/or the energy used per data communicated estimation(s) may be anydesired window size. According to some embodiments, a new estimationwindow (e.g., having the same or a different length) may succeed eachprevious estimation window, such that estimation windows may occurcontinuously for continuous real-time baseband power consumptionestimation. The estimated baseband power consumption, baseband datathroughput, and/or energy used per data communicated may be accumulatedover multiple estimation windows to obtain estimates over a longerperiod of time.

Alternatively, or in addition, the estimated baseband power consumption,baseband data throughput, and/or energy used per data communicated maybe averaged over any of various possible averaging windows, using any ofvarious averaging techniques.

As a still further possibility, selective estimated baseband powerconsumption, baseband data throughput, and/or energy used per datacommunicated values specific to certain features or characteristics ofbaseband operation may be calculated, e.g., using estimated values fromthose estimation windows in which the feature(s) and/orcharacteristic(s) of interest were active. For example, it may bepossible to estimate energy usage for specific states (e.g., connectedmode, PS only, VoLTE only, etc.), which may be useful for selectingoperating characteristics when in those states and/or determining whento operate in those states, to flag high power consumption periods fordebugging and/or error detection, and/or for any of various otherpossible purposes.

According to some embodiments, sample values for baseband powerconsumption and baseband data throughput, along with associated samplevalues for other types of data, such as load conditions, wireless mediumconditions, location, time of day, etc., during the estimation window inwhich a baseband power consumption sample value and a baseband datathroughput sample value were collected, may be collected over time.Thus, the wireless device may store associated historical value samplesfor any or all of baseband power consumption, baseband data throughput,load conditions, wireless medium conditions, location, time, and/or anyof various other possible types of data desired.

Such historical value samples may be used to model the estimated energycost of transmitting data under a variety of circumstances, e.g., usinga learning algorithm implemented by the wireless device. For example, anenergy cost table may be generated, which indicates what the estimatedenergy used per data communicated cost would be under various possiblecombinations of conditions (e.g., load condition/wireless mediumcondition/location/time combinations). If the relative energycontributions of uplink and downlink data can be determined, it mayfurther be possible to model uplink energy costs (e.g., in an uplinkenergy cost table or other model) and/or downlink energy costs (e.g., ina downlink energy cost table or other model).

As new value samples are obtained, the learning algorithm mayoccasionally update the energy cost table or other model, e.g.,periodically and/or as the new data becomes available, based on the newvalue samples for baseband power consumption, baseband data throughput,load conditions, wireless medium conditions, location, time, etc.According to some embodiments, there may be a filtering mechanism, e.g.,that emphasizes newer value samples while still considering older valuesamples, as part of each model update.

In 508, one or more baseband operating characteristics may be selectedbased at least in part on the estimated baseband power consumption andthe estimated data throughput during the estimation window. If desired,an current estimated energy used per data communicated value(s) (e.g.,that is/are calculated from the estimated baseband power consumption andthe estimated data throughput) and/or an estimated energy cost oftransmitting data under the current conditions (e.g., that is derivedfrom an energy cost table or other model for energy costs under variousconditions generated by a learning algorithm) may be used as part of thebaseband operating characteristics selection. According to someembodiments, values for any or all of these metrics may be provided as asort of feedback to a power controlling baseband module, e.g., a “powercontroller”.

The power controller module may decide to enable/disable (turn on/off)and/or vary configuration parameters for certain basebandblocks/modules, e.g., for more efficient operation, based on the current(e.g., from the most recent estimation window or an average overmultiple recent estimation windows) baseband power consumption, basebandthroughput, and/or energy used per data communicated. Examples offeatures or modules that might be turned on/off based at least in parton the estimated baseband power consumption, estimated data throughput,and/or estimated energy used per data communicated, could include anadvanced receiver function that implements interferencemitigation/cancellation techniques, a carrier aggregation feature thatincreases the amount of bandwidth that can be used for wirelesscommunication, and/or any of various other features, some or all ofwhich may be expected to provide throughput gains at a cost of increasedpower consumption. For example, the previously discussed advancedreceiver function that implements interference mitigation/cancellationtechniques might be enabled when estimated energy used per datacommunicated is high (e.g., above a certain threshold), as this mayindicate that there may be room to improve energy efficiency by enablingthe feature, and disabled when estimated energy used per datacommunicated is low (e.g., below a certain threshold), as this mayindicate that energy efficiency is already good, and enabling thisfeature might reduce energy efficiency by increasing power consumptionmore than would be justified by possible throughput gains.

As another possibility, the baseband operating characteristics selectedcould include timing of when to perform certain baseband operation. Forexample, certain (e.g., delay tolerant) data transactions could bedeferred when estimated current energy used per data communicated and/orestimated energy cost of transmitting data under the current conditionsis high (e.g., above a certain threshold), and performed when estimatedcurrent energy used per data communicated and/or estimated energy costof transmitting data under the current conditions is low (e.g., below acertain threshold).

Additionally, in some instances, baseband operations may be indirectlyaffected by the estimated current energy used per data communicatedand/or estimated energy cost of transmitting data under the currentconditions. As one such possibility, such metrics may be provided to oneor more applications that are currently performing or may performnetwork data exchange (e.g., in response to a request and/or based onpreconfigured agreement), which may in turn base some or all of itsnetwork data exchange related decisions (e.g., when to initiate a newcommunication session, whether to pause or halt a communication session,etc.) at least in part on the estimated energy cost of transmitting dataunder the current conditions. For example, an application mightcalculate an energy cost estimation of a new communication session, anddetermine to initiate the new communication session if the estimatedenergy cost is below a certain threshold, and not to initiate the newcommunication session if the estimated energy cost is above a certainthreshold.

According to some embodiments, the estimated baseband power consumptionmay also or alternatively be used for one or more other purposes than asa feedback mechanism affecting baseband operations. For example, theestimated baseband power consumption may be used (e.g., alone or incombination with other considerations) as part of estimating theremaining battery life of the wireless device. As another possibility,estimated baseband power consumption related information may bepresented via one or more user interface features, e.g., to inform auser of the wireless device of current baseband power consumptionrelated characteristics. For example, indications of any or all ofestimated remaining battery life, current or historical estimatedbaseband power consumption or estimated energy used per datacommunicated, estimated energy cost of transmitting data under thecurrent conditions, and/or any of various other types of informationrelated to the estimated baseband power consumption of the wirelessdevice may be presented via a display, a speaker, and/or any of variousother possible user interface elements.

FIGS. 6-10

FIGS. 6-10 and the description thereof are provided by way of example,and are not intended to be limiting to the disclosure as a whole.Numerous alternatives to and variations of the details provided hereinbelow are possible and should be considered within the scope of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating exemplary baseband power consumptioncharacteristics that can be considered when modelling baseband powerconsumption, according to some embodiments. As shown, within each ofseveral periods of time (e.g., t₁, t₂, t₃, t₄) during the total timesample, baseband power consumption may be relatively stable, althoughthe baseband power consumption differs between the different periods oftime. The differences in power consumption for the different timeperiods t₁, t₂, t₃, t₄ may be attributed to different features (e.g.,baseband power consumption modifiers) being active during each of theperiods of time t₁, t₂, t₃, t₄. Thus, it may be possible to model thepower consumption during each time period t1, t₂, t₃, t₄ as a linearcombination of the individual contributions to power consumption of eachof those features active in each of those time periods. For example, thepower consumption during the periods t₁ and t₃ might be represented by alinear combination of the power consumption by two active features(P_(f1)+P_(f2)), while the power consumption during the period t₂ mightbe represented by the power consumption by a single active feature(P_(f3)), and the energy consumption during the period t₄ mightsimilarly be represented by a single (though different) active feature(P_(f4)). In this case, the total energy used during the illustratedsample might be modeled as:

E _(total)=(P _(f1) +P _(f2))(t ₁ +t _(g))+P _(fE) t ₂ +P _(f4) t ₄

By characterizing the power consumption contribution of eachfeature/characteristic of a set of possible features and characteristicsusing actual baseband power consumption measurements with variousindividual features and combinations of features active, it may bepossible to use such a model to estimate the baseband power consumptionbased on which baseband features and characteristics are active withoutactually measuring the baseband power consumption.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram illustrating an example of a possible logicalmodel for estimating baseband power consumption, according to someembodiments. As shown, a power estimator/collector module 702 executingwithin a power server module 700 may receive information from variousbaseband sources regarding possible baseband features andcharacteristics that may act as baseband power consumption modifiers.For example, as shown, downlink/uplink throughput information, advancedreceiver states, RF states (e.g., low noise amplifier (LNA) gain state,transmit power), modem clocks/voltages, modem sleep states, and/or anyof various other baseband features and characteristics may be reportedto the power estimator/collector 702. The power estimator/collector mayestimate current baseband power consumption (and possibly also thecurrent power consumption per data communicated, e.g., based on thecurrent baseband power consumption and the downlink/uplink throughput).An interface manager 704 may provide an interface between the powerestimator/collector 702 and one or more clients (e.g., client 1, client2 . . . client N), each of which may request the baseband powerconsumption estimation and/or one or more values derived therefrom.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart diagram illustrating additional exemplary possibleaspects of the method of FIG. 5, according to some embodiments. Inparticular, the method of FIG. 8 may be used, as part of a basebandpower consumption feedback mechanism for improving baseband operationbased on real-time baseband power consumption estimation information, todetermine whether to turn off or leave on an advanced receiver (“ARx”)feature that is currently on.

The scheme shown in FIG. 8 may be used in conjunction with any of thecomputer systems or devices shown in the above Figures, among otherdevices. According to some embodiments, the methods may be implementedby a wireless device (e.g., a UE 106 such as illustrated in anddescribed with respect to FIGS. 1-3). In various embodiments, some ofthe elements of the scheme shown may be performed concurrently, in adifferent order than shown, substituted for by other elements, or may beomitted. Additional elements may also be performed as desired.

In 802, the average baseband data throughput over a specified period oftime “T_sec” (e.g., a value on the order of seconds) during which theARx feature was on may be determined. This average throughput may bereferred to as “TP”.

In 804, the average energy used per second, as estimated using basebandpower estimation (BPE), over the specified period of time T_sec may bedetermined. This average energy used may be referred to as “E”.

In 806, the estimated energy per bit communicated over the T_sec windowmay be calculated by dividing E by TP.

In 808, the calculated E/B may be compared with a threshold “TH_ARxOFF”.The E/B threshold for turning ARx off can be predetermined/characterizedbased at least in part on current RF conditions, operating mode, etc,and/or can be determined based at least in part on an E/B estimationfrom a most recent period (e.g., of a similar or different length thanT_sec) during which ARx was off. At least according to some embodiments,the E/B threshold for turning ARx off may be selected such that ARxremains on if the E/B with ARx on is expected to be lower than the E/Bwith ARx off, while ARx is turned off if the E/B with ARx on is expectedto be higher than the E/B with ARx off.

If the calculated E/B is greater than TH_ARxOFF, the method may proceedfrom step 808 to step 810, in which ARx may be turned off. If thecalculated E/B is lesser than TH_ARxOFF, the method may proceed fromstep 808 to step 812, in which ARx may remain on.

Note that a similar flowchart may apply to the case in which ARx is offduring the evaulation period (e.g., T_sec), and turning ARx on mayresult in a lower E/B. The value of TH_ARxOFF may be the same ordifferent between the two scenarios, as desired.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary logical flow forperforming on-device learning to estimate what link energy usage wouldbe based on current conditions at a wireless device, according to someembodiments.

As shown, information regarding energy consumption (e.g., from abaseband power consumption estimating module), channel conditions, andthe amount of data (e.g., number of bytes) transferred may be collectedby an on-device learning algorithm when the wireless device has anactive data connection. Note that other information (e.g., location,time, etc.) associated with such information may also be gathered by theon-device learning algorithm, as desired.

The on-device learning algorithm may generate an energy cost table ordatabase indicating estimated link energy usage values for variouscombinations of conditions that might be experienced by the wirelessdevice, based on the information collected regarding historical energyusage under various conditions. For example, the energy costtable/database might indicate an estimated link energy cost for ahypothetical wireless link that operates at each possible combination ofvalues for a range of possible values for each of channel conditions,load conditions, and locations.

Thus, by determining the current channel conditions, load conditions,and location of the wireless device, the wireless device may in turn beable to determine a link energy metric value for the wireless deviceusing (e.g., looking up the current conditions in) such an energy costtable/database. Such a metric may be used to select baseband operationtiming opportunistically, e.g., to perform data communication when thevalue of the link energy metric is favorable, and/or to defer datacommunication when the value of the link energy metric is unfavorable.Similarly, such a metric may be used by higher layer (e.g, application,network, and/or transport layers) operations to opportunisticallyperform network data exchanges when the link energy metric is favorable,and/or to defer network data exchanges when the value of the link energymetric is unfavorable.

Note that since the data used to generate the energy cost table/databasemay be collected from the device itself, the energy cost estimates maybe device specific. For example, as the energy cost table/database maybe based on data resulting from the particular habits and patterns ofuse of the wireless device, the link energy metric values may moreclosely represent the actual link energy efficiency experienced by thewireless device than a generic energy cost table/database generated inaggregate might, at least according to some embodiments.

FIG. 10 further illustrates exemplary aspects of a possible on-devicelearning algorithm that estimates what link energy usage would be basedon current conditions at a wireless device, according to someembodiments.

An active data connection may have numerous characteristics that varyover time, including power consumption, signal level (e.g., RSRP inLTE), serving cell load, and throughput, among other possiblecharacteristics. The graphs illustrated in FIG. 10 illustrate possiblevalue variations for such characteristics over an example time sample.

A learning algorithm may accumulate associated sample values of suchcharacteristics as the data connection is used at different times, indifferent places, for different types of data exchange, etc. Thelearning algorithm may use one or more learning techniques (such as agenetic algorithm, among various possibilities), to analyze how thevariations in values of such characteristics are correlated togetherbased on the obtained sample values for such characteristics, andthereby build a table (as shown) or other model to build an energymetric mapping indicating an expected energy cost per data communicatedunder various possible conditions with respect to the characteristicsmonitored.

Embodiments of the present disclosure may be realized in any of variousforms. For example some embodiments may be realized as acomputer-implemented method, a computer-readable memory medium, or acomputer system. Other embodiments may be realized using one or morecustom-designed hardware devices such as ASICs. Still other embodimentsmay be realized using one or more programmable hardware elements such asFPGAs.

In some embodiments, a non-transitory computer-readable memory mediummay be configured so that it stores program instructions and/or data,where the program instructions, if executed by a computer system, causethe computer system to perform a method, e.g., any of a methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of the methodembodiments described herein, or, any combination of such subsets.

In some embodiments, a device (e.g., a UE 106) may be configured toinclude a processor (or a set of processors) and a memory medium, wherethe memory medium stores program instructions, where the processor isconfigured to read and execute the program instructions from the memorymedium, where the program instructions are executable to implement anyof the various method embodiments described herein (or, any combinationof the method embodiments described herein, or, any subset of any of themethod embodiments described herein, or, any combination of suchsubsets). The device may be realized in any of various forms.

Although the embodiments above have been described in considerabledetail, numerous variations and modifications will become apparent tothose skilled in the art once the above disclosure is fully appreciated.It is intended that the following claims be interpreted to embrace allsuch variations and modifications.

What is claimed is:
 1. A wireless user equipment (UE) device, comprising: an antenna; a radio operably coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operably coupled to the radio; wherein the antenna, radio and processing element are configured to: estimate a real-time baseband power consumption of the UE device; select one or more baseband operation characteristics based at least in part on the estimated real-time baseband power consumption; and perform communication using the baseband according to the selected one or more baseband operation characteristics.
 2. The UE device of claim 1, wherein the estimated real-time baseband power consumption of the UE device is based at least in part on one or more of: a radio access technology (RAT) that is currently active; a state of the RAT; or a procedure with respect to the RAT.
 3. The UE device of claim 1, wherein said selecting one or more baseband operation characteristics comprises enabling, disabling, or modifying the configuration of one or more baseband modules.
 4. The UE device of claim 3, wherein the one or more baseband modules comprise one or more of: an advanced receiver function; or a carrier aggregation feature.
 5. The UE device of claim 1, wherein the antenna, radio and processing element are further configured to: estimate energy used per data communicated; wherein said selecting one or more baseband operation characteristics is further based on the estimated energy used per data communicated.
 6. The UE device of claim 1, wherein the antenna, radio and processing element are further configured to: store historical value samples for baseband power consumption, baseband data throughput, load conditions, and wireless medium conditions for the UE device.
 7. The UE device of claim 6, wherein the antenna, radio and processing element are further configured to: estimate expected energy used per data communicated, based at least in part on the stored historical value samples; determine when to initiate network data exchanges based at least in part on the estimated expected energy used per data communicated.
 8. The UE device of claim 6, wherein the stored historical value samples further comprise location of the UE device.
 9. An apparatus, comprising a processing element and a non-transitory memory medium configured to cause a wireless user equipment (UE) device to: estimate a current baseband power consumption of the UE device; modify at least one baseband operation characteristic based at least in part on the estimated current baseband power consumption; and perform communication using the baseband according to the at least one modified baseband operation characteristic.
 10. The apparatus of claim 9, further configured to: collect information on baseband power consumption of the UE device and channel conditions; and generate an energy cost table, based at least in part on the collected information.
 11. The apparatus of claim 10, further configured to: determine current channel conditions; and based on the determined current channel conditions and the energy cost table, determine a link energy metric, wherein performing communication using the baseband according to the at least one modified baseband operation characteristic comprises performing data communication when the value of the link energy metric is favorable, and wherein performing communication using the baseband according to the at least one modified baseband operation characteristic comprises deferring data communication when the value of the link energy metric is unfavorable.
 12. The apparatus of claim 9, further configured to: estimate energy used per data communicated; wherein said modifying at least one baseband operation characteristic is further based on the estimated energy used per data communicated.
 13. A wireless user equipment (UE) device, comprising: an antenna; a radio operably coupled to the antenna; and a processing element operably coupled to the radio; wherein the antenna, radio and processing element are configured to: estimate baseband power consumption of the UE device; estimate data throughput; estimate energy used per data communicated; determine whether to enable or disable one or more baseband features of the radio based at least in part on the estimated baseband power consumption, the estimated data throughput, and the estimated energy used per data communicated; and perform communication using one or more enabled baseband features of the radio.
 14. The UE device of claim 13, wherein the one or more baseband features comprise interference mitigation.
 15. The UE device of claim 13, wherein the one or more baseband features comprise carrier aggregation.
 16. The UE device of claim 13, wherein the antenna, radio and processing element are further configured to: identify one or more active baseband power consumption modifying characteristics, wherein the estimated baseband power consumption of the UE device is based on a linear combination of the one or more active baseband power consumption modifying characteristics.
 17. The UE device of claim 16, wherein each baseband power consumption modifying characteristic is characterized by a power consumption modification function representing an estimated modification to baseband power consumption by the UE device when the respective power consumption modifying characteristic is in use.
 18. An apparatus, comprising a processing element and a non-transitory memory medium configured to cause a wireless user equipment (UE) device to: estimate baseband power consumption of the UE device; estimate baseband data throughput of the UE device; estimate energy used per data communicated for the UE device based on the estimated baseband power consumption and the estimated baseband data throughput; select one or more baseband operation characteristics based at least in part on the estimated energy used per data communicated; and perform communication using the selected one or more baseband operation characteristics.
 19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing element and the non-transitory memory medium are further configured to cause the UE device to: receive a request for baseband power consumption reports from a client application on the UE device; and provide baseband power consumption reports to the client application.
 20. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the estimated baseband power consumption of the UE device is based at least in part on: an active radio access technology (RAT), and one or more of: bandwidth, transport block size, downlink and uplink allocations, transmit power, carrier aggregation, diversity path, continuous packet connectivity (CPC), or discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration.
 21. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the estimated baseband power consumption of the UE device is based at least in part on system selection status.
 22. The apparatus of claim 21, wherein system selection status comprises at least one of: out-of-service (00S), an active searcher module, power-up procedures, or a background public land mobile network (BPLMN) scan.
 23. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein the processing element and the non-transitory memory medium are further configured to cause the UE device to build an energy metric mapping, wherein the energy metric mapping indicates an expected energy cost per data communicated under various possible conditions.
 24. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein to build the energy metric mapping, the processing element and the non-transitory memory medium are further configured to cause the UE device to accumulate sample values and analyze the accumulated sample values.
 25. The apparatus of claim 23, wherein the selecting one or more baseband operation characteristics is further based at least in part on the energy metric mapping. 